Hey guys, welcome to episode one. What a great place to start with this podcast. Today we're talking about a big topic that I've wanted to talk about for a really long time. I did a live stream about it a few months ago and I wanted this to be the first episode for the podcast series because I think it's such a big topic that not many people actually talk about. The thing that we're talking about today is what does it take to actually grow a healthy, thriving business. I'm not talking about toe dipping in business, I'm not talking about what does it take to start a business, I'm not talking about the registration stages. They're all fairly easy to Google and to step by step do what it takes. What I'm talking about is what does it actually take to grow a healthy thriving business? So what is a healthy thriving business? A healthy thriving business is a business that's profitable. It gives you life, it lights you up, it's something that you're excited to take part in and to grow. It also adds and contributes to your lifestyle. So it can add to the day-to-day life. It's profitable and it gives you extra income to do the things that you want to do with your life. It can provide you with an amazing level of freedom that no other workplace will ever provide. It allows you to provide amazing and fantastic products and services to the marketplace, to grow a community of engaged and connected people that become your biggest customers, your most loyal customers, your biggest raving fans. And it allows you to grow something and grow into a person that you're incredibly proud of. Because not everyone is cut out for the life of the business owner or the life of the entrepreneur. Many people will try, and for a lot of people, they find it's not for them. The life of the business owner, the life of the entrepreneur that actually builds and grows a business that is meaningful, takes something that not many people are prepared to give. So I'm talking to you if you want to be great, not if you're toe dipping, not if you're in this just to make some quick dollars, not if you're half in, half out, but always looking for what else is out there. You're in business, you know you felt that calling. You're like, this is it, this is for me, I'm going to do it. And this is for you if you want to achieve something of significance, something that actually makes a difference to other people. I am a big believer in a customer-centered focus for the business, but also to your life and finding the balance between that and building something that you are incredibly proud of. So the first thing I want you to know is that building a business like this takes courage. It's not for the faint-hearted. Being in business is not for everyone. There's an old saying, right, just because you can doesn't mean you should. I believe that just because a lot of people do start businesses or can start businesses, not all of them should. They have to be prepared to give what it takes. And if you're not prepared to give what it takes, a lot of people will struggle. And that's why, when you're a business owner, you have to understand you're part of a greater minority. Only approximately 30% of the population will ever start a business. So that's one in three. And I know that sounds like a lot of people, but when you break it down from those one in three that actually start a business, 90% of those businesses close in between the year three and year five mark. All sorts of different statistics that you can find flying around on the internet. But it's uh suggested that between 50% or approximately 50% of the businesses close within three years and 90% of those close within five years. Of those that remain open, this is where it gets even worse or better, it depends how you see it, is that of those that remain open, 85%, 85% is huge, don't actually become profitable and end up working, people end up working harder and longer than they ever did working in paid employment. So that means that the percentage of people that actually build meaningful businesses that are profitable and allow them to earn more than what they would if they went to find work in regular employment is sitting at about 15%. 15%, 85% people out of every hundred who are still in business are working harder and longer for themselves than they would if they went to find paid employment. So that's something that you need to be really aware of and really conscious of because success in business is not typical. Now, I know you're not typical. You wouldn't be listening to this podcast if you were. You want to know what does it take. So you're already different from the others. Now, what I want to go into is what are the key differences, what are the key distinctions, what are the things that you can take with you with you by listening to this podcast that you can simmer with questions that you can ask yourself to really see are you cut out for this life and what will it actually take from you? So here we go. First thing I want to say is because so few people actually end up creating the life that they want through business, you need to understand that the people that make it think differently to others. If you ever feel like you're the odd one out in conversations, that's exactly how it should be. If success were common, that means that more people would be successful. But here's the thing that you need to remember if you think the same as everyone else, you'll usually achieve the same as everyone else. So you need to know that you might feel like the odd one out, and that is so normal. That's what makes who you surround yourself with so incredibly important because it's very easy to take on other people's mindsets and other people's thought patterns and end up in exactly the same place that they ended up. If that person, something we'll talk about later in this podcast, is if that person hasn't achieved a level of success that you would gladly swap your life with theirs, do not take business advice from them. So let's get into it. What does it actually take? The first question that you need to ask yourself is do I actually want to be in business or am I just looking for a creative outlet? What sort of business am I actually building here? Because it's very easy to create a job for yourself. We're very, very good at creating jobs for ourselves. And what we end up doing is leaving paid employment where we're being paid to perform one task, and we have a role and a job description that that role entails, to go into business and suddenly have to wear 10 hats, and each of those hats has its own job description, and we're responsible for all of them. So it's really important that you get super crystal clear on if I'm going to be in business, what am I actually creating? There is nothing wrong with creating a job for yourself. In fact, some of the happiest people I know just create do enough that creates work for them. They make enough money to sustain the level of lifestyle that they like, and that is it. The problem, and that's perfect. The problem comes when we have a higher level of desire for what we want to achieve or a higher expectation, and we want to grow something that is scalable or that you know brings in higher levels of income, but then we're not prepared to let go of those lower level tasks or bring in a team to help us or ask for support or learn the strategies and the systems that it takes in order to achieve those goals. So a lot of the times the frustration comes from a mismatch in what it is that we actually want and what we're actually creating or what we know how to create. So the first thing you need to ask yourself is what am I actually creating? What business am I in? What do I want my business to actually look like? It's only from this point, understanding what you want, what business you're in, and what you want your business and your life to look like that you can make the right decisions about what strategies do I need to put in place, what support will I need, and what do I need to learn? Where are my knowledge and skill set gaps? There will definitely be knowledge and skill set gaps, and that is very normal. You need to accept them and lean into them. How can I close those gaps? Who do I need in my life? What do I need to learn? Who knows more than me? And how can I learn from them? Right? So the decision comes first. What sort of business do you want? Now, the second question: when you work out what sort of business and life that you want, you need to ask yourself, am I prepared to give what it takes? Every different level and layer of business that we dive into is going to take different things from us. It's going to take a level of commitment, it's going to take a level of courage, it's going to take a level of consistent action, it's going to take self-discipline, awareness, right? So the higher the level that we want to achieve, the more it's going to take from us. We need to be prepared to give it. If we want that mismatch again, is that some people want that higher level of business and life, that business will be able to provide for them, but they're not prepared to give what it takes. So when you have that mismatch, you're going to wind up frustrated because what your your actions are not in alignment with your desires. Your desires may be scary. What you want to achieve may be scary. Maybe no one that you know has gone for that before, or maybe you know people that went for it but missed out on those opportunities that they were going for for whatever reason, right? It's so important that we have blinders on, blinkers on, and when you have a desire, start with the end in mind. What am I creating? What am I building? What am I growing? And then reverse engineer that and go, who do I need to surround myself with? What do I need to learn? What is this going to take? We must make a commitment to taking the action that that goal requires. So keep that in mind. The decision comes first. Am I prepared to give what it takes in order to achieve that outcome? Once you've made that decision, the next thing can be difficult. And you really need to surround yourself with people who are actually doing it, who are actually in the ring, who have the skill sets. This might mean investing into mentorship, uh, investing into programs, learning things like marketing, social media marketing, digital marketing, email marketing, understanding the different concepts. This takes time. And really, the speed here that you're paying for is that you're learning from somebody else's trial and error, but the results come from implementing yourself. So be cautious, find people who have reached the levels of success that you want to achieve, learn from them, commit to learning from them, and only take advice from those people who've actually been on the road before you. Many people love to give advice. Lots of people have their two cents that they want to share, but unless you will gladly swap places with them in their business and it be a massive upgrade for you, you really need to take that advice with a grain of salt because they're talking from a lot of the times, even though the advice is well-meaning, they're usually talking from the outside looking in and what they speculate that it takes or what they speculate has happened, not from actual lived experience. So be cautious around yourself with the right people and make sure that you're getting business advice, sound business advice from people who've been on the road before you. The third thing I want to say is building a business that you absolutely love and does all those things that a beautiful healthy business does, I want you to know that it will always take twice as long and take twice as much as you think it will take. The funny thing is, it's longer and it takes more than we ever think it will take, and at the same time, it happens faster than you could ever believe. Once you've made that commitment to your business and to not just working in your business, but working on your business and learning those skill sets and committing to the journey and surrounding yourself with the right people and taking actions like the person that runs a successful business. When you commit to that level, you'll notice that things start happening much faster than you ever thought that they would be possible. So bear that in mind. It will always take more than we think up front, but once we commit to taking those actions, it will also happen faster than we ever imagined. Be prepared to invest in your learning and be prepared to commit to your business. Taking the actions first. A lot of people, unfortunately, they want their business to show them and prove to them that it's going to be successful before they commit, before they go all in. Unfortunately, in business, you have to make the commitment first. You decide to go all in first, you take the actions first, and your business catches up to the level that you're at. Your business will never outgrow you. This is a really big one. Write this one down, have it with you, carry it with you. Your business will always write, rise up to meet you where you're at. It will never outgrow you. We will always be the cap and the bottleneck for the growth of our business. And every time we feel stifled in the business, or like the business isn't doing what it needs to do or what we want it to do, it always indicates that there's something that we don't understand, we're not implementing, or that we're not understanding in the business. And the business requires us to take more action in order to keep growing. So keep that in mind. It'll always take twice as long, and it will take twice as much from you. Now, one thing I will add here is business, your success is not on your timeline. There's only two things that you decide that are on your timeline. One is when you start your business, and the second one is when you quit, when you end, when you've had enough. In between that, your success is not on your timeline, and you will find that some years are very linear and quite stable and quite, you know, that they sort of flatline, you don't see much growth at all. And then you'll see other years in business where your growth just seems to be exponential. I've done it myself over the last 10 years where the growth has just doubled in such a short space in time, and you have to be prepared for that. These are things that are not on our timeline. All that we have to do is commit to taking the actions and learning the strategies and the systems, surrounding ourselves with the people, making this level of ambition your normal outside of that when the actual outcome presents itself. That's on its own timeline. The only thing that I know is that if we quit, we never allow it to happen. So you need to commit to keep taking action and release, almost detach yourself from the when. This is going to lead me into risk because a lot of people will tell you that starting a business is risky. I don't believe that it is as risky as a lot of people make out. There's always an element of risk. Listen, even in paid employment, there's the element of risk. Your boss might come to you today and say, we don't need you today. Your role is no longer feasible. You have been made redundant. Unfortunately, we're downsizing. We don't have any shifts for you. There is always an element of risk, just as there is always an element of risk in business as there is in paid employment. What we need to become comfortable with is that in business you can't play it safe. Where the risk actually lies in business is when we have desires, things that we want, but then we're not prepared to make the commitment, the choices, the dedication to learning the things that we need to learn in order to achieve those outcomes. So what is risky? Starting a business isn't as risky as you might think. Not learning how to market your business properly, that is risky. Not learning how to run a marketing strategy or a promotional strategy, that is risky. Not learning about email marketing, that is risky. Not getting mentored, that is risky. Receiving advice from people who have never been down the road that you're taking, that is risky. Honestly, risk is always there. An element of risk is always there, but we decrease those odds when we put ourselves in an environment with people who have done what we want to do and who can guide us in the direction that we're going. So keep that in mind. There's always an element of risk. Of course, if there was no element of risk, everybody would do it. If it was easy, everybody would do it. If it was easy, more people would see success. The fact is that 90% of businesses close down within the first five years. Of those people that stay in business, 85% of those people end up working harder and longer for less income than what they would if they just went and got a job working for someone else. It's important to remember that what you're going for is not common. So when you're going for uncommon outcomes, you're going for profit, you're going for lifestyle, you're going for growth, you're going for a business that gives you life and lifestyle and becomes something that you're incredibly proud of and delivers, stands the test of time and delivers, allows you to deliver high-quality products to a marketplace. Guess what? You're going to have to do things differently. And that is where the element of risk is minimized when you make that commitment to taking the actions that most people don't. Most people will not do what it takes. Keep that in mind. I don't want this podcast episode to put you off. I want it to inspire you, but at the same time, it's so important that if you are thinking about being in business or you've been in business for a little while and you just feel so different to other people. I want you to understand why. And I want you to feel that fire in your belly to go, I'm on the right track. I do think differently to others. I am investing in myself. I am uh asking for the support in the ways that I need it. I am showing up in ways that are different, you know, and are big and are vulnerable. This means that you're on the right track. And all you need to do is keep going. So the final tip that I'll give you what does it actually take to build a business that does all those things that we spoke about? Is you need to treat it like a business from the start. Commit to your business like it's your career. Treat it as if it's a job and you are going to work and that it has all the same component parts as a job. Create systems around the products that you create. Write a vision and a mission statement. Ask yourself, what are we creating here? Who are we for? What is it? What is our unique selling point? What do we bring to the marketplace? Create systems, honor and value your time. Set boundaries, set um, set yourself systems for product delivery. See what you can automate, see what you can outsource. When you treat it like a business from the start, rather than just something that you're dabbling in, rather than bringing hobby mentality into your business, rather than just doing this on the side and seeing where it takes you, your business requires your commitment. And when you commit to doing what it takes, setting the boundaries, being really clear about what you're creating, setting yourself hours of the day and days of the week. That you actually work, creating repeatable tasks, creating systems within your product creation and delivery. Honestly, the higher the standards that you hold for yourself in your business, the more serious other people will take your business, the more serious business becomes for you. And your business is more likely to do the things that a healthy business does because of that. It's all mindset. When you treat it like a business, it's more likely to behave like a business. When you treat it like a toe dipping exercise, I'm just gonna try it, or I'm going to see what happens, or I'm only gonna commit to my business when I see signs of success. Guess what? You are less likely to see those things that you're looking for than when you go all in. So I'm going to wrap up here, and I hope that this episode has ignited that fire in your belly. I hope that it has highlighted for you what it actually takes. I want to just remind you that you're doing something that not many people will actually do, and many people will try, and a lot of people will quit. So you are going to feel like the odd one out many times over. Commit to your business and commit to treating your business like a business. Do all those things that I spoke about. Make the decision first. What are we building? Surround yourself with the right people. Get your mindset right, know that it's going to take something from you. Minimize the risk and treat it like a business from the start. And honestly, your business will grow faster and bigger and brighter than you could ever imagine. I hope you've loved this episode. I've loved delivering it for you. I can't wait to share so much more with you. This is just the first episode of a long list of things that I want to cover. And I hope that as we wrap up this episode, it has reignited your passion for your business. It has made you realize that you are the odd one out, and that it has redefined or helped you, given you some clarity on redefining what is it that you're actually doing, and given you some clarity on what steps you need to take to help get you there. Until we see each other again, I wish you such a fantastic day and listen out for episode two, which will be coming very, very soon. Bye guys.